Crack Cocaine & Sex | Myths, Facts, & Risks

Crack cocaine is a stimulant that gives you energy and euphoria. It also heightens sexual desire. However, despite the myth that it improves sexual performance, crack cocaine increases sexual dysfunction, risky sexual behaviors, and disease transmission.

Some people believe psychoactive drugs like crack go well with sex. However, mixing sex and drug use is a dangerous game that often leads to poor sexual experiences and disease transmission.

Myths About Crack Cocaine & Sex

Some reasons that people pair crack cocaine with sexual activity are misguided or untrue.

Crack Cocaine Improves Sexual Performance

Crack gives you energy and might make you want to have sex. But that doesn’t mean you’ll perform better. 

Cocaine constricts blood vessels, which decreases the blood flow necessary for the penis to remain erect during sex. 

Under the influence of crack cocaine, you may lose control of your body or mind. A loss of control during sex can cause dangerous behavior or an abrupt end to a pleasurable experience. 

Crack Makes Orgasm Better

Crack cocaine can make it harder to orgasm. If you use it often, cocaine may decrease physical sensitivity while increasing anxiety and irritability. These changes can make it challenging to remain focused on sex and enjoy the moment. 

Crack Is Safe Once In A While

If you only use crack cocaine to make sex better (which it won’t), you still risk side effects and health issues. 

Crack side effects include agitation, paranoia, and insomnia. Heart problems commonly result from crack cocaine use. Many crack smokers seek health care for severe chest pain. They may also develop a hacking cough or breathing issues.

Crack cocaine is very addictive. Even your first time using it can alter your brain structure and make you crave more. Adolescents who smoke crack are at the highest risk of developing lifelong addiction.

Facts About Crack Cocaine & Sex

The truth is that crack cocaine use correlates with high-risk behavior and can get in the way of you having great sex.

Crack Cocaine Increases Sexual Desire

Crack floods your brain with dopamine, a reward chemical that makes you feel euphoric. It also gives you high energy levels, increases sensitivity (at first), and lowers your social inhibitions. 

Most people are more inclined to have sex while using crack cocaine, and some take it thinking it will improve their performance.

Sexual desire from crack cocaine is dose-related, meaning the higher doses you take, the more your sex drive is activated. A low dose of cocaine may not affect your sex drive at all.

Crack Increases Sexual Dysfunction

Regular use of crack cocaine can cause sexual dysfunction, which may worsen with continued substance abuse.

Sexual dysfunction caused by crack cocaine may be:

• premature ejaculation
• decreased sensation
• difficulty orgasming
• difficulty maintaining an erection (erectile dysfunction)
• a prolonged, painful erection (priapism)

Research shows that cocaine can lower a man’s sperm count and cause fertility issues.

Crack Decreases The Likelihood Of Condom Use

Crack makes people impatient. If they want sex and a condom isn’t available, most won’t bother to use protection. 

A recent study found that only 40 percent of people on a high dose of cocaine were willing to wait an hour for a condom. Sixty percent of people on a lower dose were willing to wait rather than have unprotected sex.

These numbers apply even if they knew their partner had a sexually transmitted infection (STI).

Sexual Risk Factors Of Using Crack Cocaine

Crack cocaine increases the chance of risky sexual behaviors that affect you and your sex partners.

Disease Transmission

Drug abuse can lead to casual sex with someone you don’t know. If you don’t know them, you don’t know their sexual history or if they’re telling you the truth about it. 

If a condom is available or you’re willing to wait for one, it’s not 100 percent protection. Condoms break, fluids can still be exchanged, and skin touches around the genital area. 

Some sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), like chlamydia, gonorrhea, and syphilis, can be treated and cured. But you might not know you have them and could spread them to someone else.

More severe diseases, namely human immunodeficiency virus (HIV/AIDS) and Hepatitis C, can also be spread through sex. These diseases are public health issues that aren’t helped by trading sex for drugs or other dangerous behaviors.

Multiple Sex Partners

Many people who have sex during a cocaine binge have multiple sexual partners. Some exchange sex for crack. These risky behaviors raise the chance of HIV infection and other complications.

Crack Addiction

It takes a high dose of crack cocaine to increase sexual desire. A high dose also messes with your brain chemistry more and makes it more likely that you’ll develop a crack addiction.

The high from crack lasts only five to 30 minutes, so many people take repeated doses to maintain a high. This process is called binging and is followed by a crash. 

Binging can cause a cocaine overdose since your body doesn’t have time to process each dose before you take another. The crash can be severe—several days of exhaustion.

Preventing Sexual Complications With Crack Cocaine

The best way to prevent sexual complications with crack cocaine is not to use the drug at all. Abstaining from substance use will prevent addiction, health problems, strained relationships, and countless other issues. 

If you use crack cocaine, do it in a safe environment with people you know and trust. Have condoms readily available and discuss sexual history (yours and theirs) with potential partners before you start smoking crack.

If you or a loved one are abusing crack cocaine, ask for help now. There are better ways to improve your energy, social interactions, and sexual performance than using illicit drugs. 

Speak with a specialist at Ark Behavioral Health today to learn about our personalized drug treatment programs.